Fins and Fairies
by QuinnJ
Summary: After Pan and Tink get into a fight yet again, she turns to someone who just might know exactly how she's feeling.


**A/N: I got this idea from an interview with Rose McIver in which she stated that she thought Ariel and Tinkerbell would make a dynamic duo. I quite agreed with that, so this idea popped into my head. This is pre-Regina for the both of them btw. **

* * *

"Don't you get it, I am trying to save you!" shouted Tinkerbell at the top of her lungs.

"I don't need saving!" he yelled back at her with equal ferocity.

Once again the green fairy found herself in a heated argument with Peter Pan. It was forever the same argument, or so it seemed.

His entire focus appeared to revolve around finding some boy, a specific boy with a special heart. This endless quest was changing him and she did not like what he was turning into. It was happening right before her eyes. Destruction and darkness was all that surrounded him these days. Gone was the carefree and animated boy she met many years ago. Tinkerbell could hardly bear it. She feared that if he stayed on the path he was on now, it would ultimately lead to his demise. Of course she had told him this a frequent amount of times in their more recent discussions, to which he only ever replied that she was the one dragging him down. Pan had promised her then and there that he would be _her_ demise if she didn't stop interfering with his work.

"What I do need..." he started, barely able to contain the anger in his voice, "is for you to do what I tell you to do and not worry your pretty little head about things that don't concern you."

The words cut into her soul like a spear would pierce its target. She couldn't believe that he had pulled the authority card on her. After everything they've been through together, she expected to be treated better than this. Were they not equals? His tone certainly suggested otherwise. They have known each other for such a long time, but she realised in this moment, all that they once were was no more. She was losing him, or perhaps, she had lost him already.

Trusted friends reduced to bitter allies.

"Peter..." her voice was small, laced with a hint of despondency.

He narrowed his eyes at her as one of his eyebrows perked up slowly. After a minute of considering her, he decided that he was tired of her meddling in his life and that he was done arguing with her. Without warning he sent her flying across the clearing with a wave of his hand. Tinkerbell landed hard against a tree and slumped to the ground.

"Come back when I need you," he said carelessly.

Tinkerbell felt tears welling up in her eyes, but watching him turn his back on her, hearing him talk to her as if she was some sort of maid to be summoned whenever he felt like it, made her furious. She blinked the tears away, scrambled back to her feet and rubbed her sore back. With an indignant huff she rolled her shoulders back, spread her wings and took off, growing smaller as she went on.

Honestly the nerve of that boy; she was trying to prevent him from destroying his own life and what was her thanks? Well fine, see how he gets on without her help then. After a while of mentally cursing his very existence, she concluded it was a good thing Pan was searching for a heart, since he so clearly didn't possess one currently.

Tinkerbell already felt herself calm down significantly at the sight of her destination up ahead. Surrounded by a haze of green mist she enhanced in size once more, landing ever so gently at a beautiful little pavilion that was enveloped in an ocean of flowers. Her feet touched upon the white marble tiles and she looked around. Inhaling the sweet scent of the flowers, feeling the soft breeze against her skin. She closed her eyes and just listened for a while. Listened to the serenity of it all. No Lost Boys creeping about, screaming and jumping out at her, no poisonous arrows whizzing past her and most importantly of all no Peter Pan.

The wide decorated steps descended into the cool and clear waters of the mermaids' lagoon, for that is where she found herself standing. Tinkerbell treaded down to the very last step that remained above the surface and sat down with her knees to her chest and her arms around her legs. She came here often when she wanted some peace and quiet. None of the Lost Boys would ever come near this place since they were afraid the mermaids would get them. She giggled at the mere thought of it. It suited Tinkerbell just fine though, she needed a spot that she could call her own, 'cause let's face it, this being Pan's island, there weren't many of those around. Naturally he knew about this place and certainly didn't hesitate to disturb her here when he felt the need, but that occurred rarely. While Peter wasn't scared of the mermaids he didn't care much for them either. So he let her have her little sanctuary.

Not only did the fairy seek out her refuge here, she also came here for one other very special reason and that reason was swimming up to her right now. Fiery red hair emerged from underneath the water and the girl that appeared there smiled so kindly at Tinkerbell that she felt calmer straight away. It was the warmth of the mermaid's friendship that always made her feel like all the troubles in the world didn't exist.

"Hey Tink!" she exclaimed cheerfully while resting her arms on the edge of the steps.

"Hi Ariel," Tinkerbell smiled a sad smile at her dearest friend.

"Hey what's wrong?" Ariel could see that her friend was upset. Regarding the fairy's body language she needn't guess what, or rather who, the cause of her distress was. This was not the first time she'd seen her so dejected and sad. "What's he done now?"

Tinkerbell gave her a skeptical look. Ariel never minded when she complained about Pan to her, but she had to wonder how many more times the redhead could put up with her grievances about him.

"Are you sure you wanna hear it?" she asked tentatively.

"Of course, I'm always here for you if you need to talk, you know that. Especially if it's about that no good, underhanded, irresponsible, toad of a boy."

Tinkerbell let out a small laugh, "We had another fight..." there was a long pause before she took a deep breath to say what she had avoided admitting. "I think our friendship is over... in fact I'm not certain we were ever really friends."

"Oh honey... I'm sorry," Ariel's expression immediately turned into a frown. She wasn't all that fond of Neverland's self-proclaimed ruler and she was pretty sure the feeling was mutual, but he obviously meant something to Tink. So she tolerated the boy most of the time. However, with each passing day it proved to be more and more difficult to stand for his poor treatment of her friend.

"What happened?"

"He used his magic against me," a small gasp came from the mermaid. "He's never used magic to hurt someone before, ever," Tinkerbell continued softly.

"I can't believe it, did he hurt you, because if he did..." Ariel rambled on before Tink cut her off.

"I'm fine, well, I'll live anyway. He threw me against a tree, the little jerk," she divulged, letting the resentment coat her tone. "I overheard him talking to his shadow and there he was, ordering it to take yet another boy." Tinkerbell rolled her eyes at the memory. "So I confronted him about it and well, things got out of hand from there, as always." She felt herself get irritated again.

"He keeps taking all these boys to Neverland even though they don't want to leave their homes. These kids... they're not lost, they just want to go home to their loved ones. I can see it in their eyes Ariel."

The mermaid's eyes widened at this statement. "He's stealing children away from their parents?"

Tinkerbell nodded, looking quite somber. A long and poignant silence fell between them; the gravity of such a thing hanging heavily in the air. Each of the women's minds wandered in their own direction, both staring off into the distance as they did so.

"Maybe I should go back to the Enchanted Forest," Tinkerbell promptly spoke up again.

A sense of dread encompassed Ariel's heart. "Why?" she asked trying to keep the panic out of her voice.

"What use am I here? All I do is run stupid errands for Pan. There are real people out there, with real problems who could really use the guidance of a fairy like me, you know, and I'm wasting my gifts on a selfish boy who doesn't even care that I'm risking everything by helping him out."

The prospect of losing her best friend didn't excite Ariel, not at all. She would have no one left to talk to in this land which would be awfully lonely, however, she understood that not every person's path is the same. Mermaids and fairies, they were worlds apart as far as life purposes go. So instead of trying to persuade her to stay, she said, "You should do what's best for _you_ Tink."

Looking at the kind girl in the water beside her, Tinkerbell felt something heavy form at the core of her heart. "What am I talking about and leave you? There's no way," she immediately pushed aside all thoughts of returning to her homeland while rolling her eyes at her own silly musings.

"I can travel between realms remember," Ariel reminded her gently, hoping to not sound as though she _wanted_ the fairy gone. She just wished her to be happy and if that meant she had to leave Neverland, Ariel would not be the one to stand in the way of her happily ever after.

"Yeah, but it wouldn't be the same, would it..."

Ariel took a moment to think about it and decided that she couldn't disagree with that. She loved their little chats by the pavilion. Those moments were often the best part of her day. And if you just imagined Peter Pan and his Lost Boys away for a second, Neverland was quite a beautiful place to reside. "Well...if neither of us is going anywhere, I suppose that's just as well. I mean what would this place be without its two most awesome inhabitants?"

Tinkerbell let out a small giggle. If one were to close their eyes, one might think they were listening to a melody of several tiny bells.

"There's the sound I wanted to hear," Ariel said.

"I know, I'm being depressing again aren't I? It's just.. I'm supposed to bring about happy endings and I can't even do that properly."

"You stop that right now. A fairy who doesn't believe in herself? That won't do Tink. I believe in you. And as long as there's even one person in all the realms who does, you will do great things."

The two women smiled at each other. Tinkerbell wasn't easily lost for words, but she was now. So she grasped the mermaid's hand in her own and gave it small squeeze, thanking her silently for the unwavering faith she had in her.

They sat like that for a while. Ariel had tilted her head to the side gazing up at the beautiful blue skies, swaying her tail in the water gently. The sound of the water rippling soothed Tinkerbell. She let out a long sigh before speaking again.

"He's such a stubborn ass," she mumbled to herself. Ariel closed her eyes in amusement; the fairy was relentless.

"Why can't he see I'm only trying to help, not work against him," she ranted, narrowing her eyes as if she was looking right at him in that very moment. "Honestly, he's so stuck on his one brilliant idea," said Tink with a huff. "He and Hook ought to become best friends or something. They both have a serious one track mind in that regard."

Upon hearing the pirate's nickname spoken, Ariel's composure changed instantly; this was not lost on Tinkerbell.

"Yeah, _Hook_... don't even get me started on him," Ariel muttered. It felt unfamiliar to call him that, which is why she only ever used that name when she was upset with him. "He's more like Pan than he cares to admit... best not tell him I said that though," she added with a wink.

"How is the Captain doing these days?" Tink asked, now genuinely curious as to what was going on on the other side of the island.

"He's been fine, I guess. Like you said, one track mind. Still busy trying to find ways to kill the Dark One." Her voice had a trace of deep concern in it when she expressed the words. "I just don't think that getting his revenge is truly gonna make him as happy as he thinks it will. In fact I think it'll only leave him feeling emptier than he does now."

Ariel's eyes were reflecting sadness. Absent-mindedly she traced the floral patterns etched into the marble of the steps with her finger. Tinkerbell raised her eyebrows slightly, studying Ariel's behaviour closely. She knew Hook and Ariel were friends, but she hadn't realised until now that he might have meant a bit more to her than that.

"You really care for him don't you?"

"I do," the mermaid blushed deeply at her confession.

"But you know, I know it can never happen. Firstly there's the mermaid thing," she pulled her tail slightly up out of the water, indicating her fins, "and secondly, I'm quite sure he just doesn't feel the same about me. His heart still belongs to his lost love. Of course... that doesn't stop him from teasing me about it every chance he gets," Ariel rolled her eyes smiling a coy smile.

"Gosh, listen to us, being gloomy over a bunch of guys."

"You're so right, this is unacceptable!" Tinkerbell agreed wholeheartedly.

"We're fun fearless females for goodness sake."

"Too right we are."

"So.. if we can't save 'em, what do we do?"

Tinkerbell pretended to seriously think over the numerous options before she announced, "Drown the both of 'em of course!"

"Excellent idea," Ariel concurred in her most serious tone, "good riddance to bad rubbish."

The girls were laughing loudly now. All their troubles talked over and reflected upon when they heard a voice. It was Pan, calling out to Tinkerbell. The fairy groaned loudly and rolled her eyes. Why couldn't he have stayed away for just a few more minutes, or, for the rest of the day while he was at it.

"Hey Peter," Ariel flashed him a genuine smile, ever friendly to absolutely everyone.

"Hello mermaid," he said unenthusiastically, not even bothering looking at her.

"It's Ariel."

"Of course it is, Tink are you coming?"

"Don't be rude to my friend," Tinkerbell reprimanded him as she stood up from her comfortable position. "And no, I'm not ready to go yet, I was in the middle of something."

"You can have your girly chats later, one of the boys is hurt, he needs healing."

Tinkerbell let out a big sigh and turned to Ariel. "I think I'd better go check it out, make sure it's nothing serious. You don't mind if we continue this another time do you?"

"Not at all. It's obvious that Peter," she scanned the boy up and down with her eyes, "and his friends, can't seem to manage without you. And helping the helpless is what fairies do after all," she replied with an innocent smile. The small blonde fairy, however, could see the mirth in her friend's eyes when she said it. She looked over to Peter and it appeared he too had caught that, since he was now staring at Ariel as if he were trying to murder her with his thoughts.

'Time to go,' Tinkerbell thought, 'before things get out of hand.'

"Thanks for everything Ariel, I'll see you tomorrow?" she quickly wrapped up the conversation while pulling at Peter's arm and so leading him towards the edge of the forest.

Ariel gave her a reassuring wink, watching the fairy transform into her smaller size as she fluttered gracefully out of sight.


End file.
